Skipper's Secret
by PenguinsOfMadagascar
Summary: Skipper has tons of secrets that he tells no one. But what if one of those secrets got out? One that would change his life forever? How would his team react? Rated T just in case. Read and review! Hurt/Comfort. Romance. Complete!
1. The Secret Comes Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! Of course Skipper and his team is in this story, but I'm gonna bring in recurring characters too, like King Julien and his subjects, and Marlene and Fred also makes a brief appearance. I don't own any of those characters, but I do own Alex and her mother, Daisy (who is only mentioned in this story a few times; she doesn't make an appearance).**

**Note: I actually tried writing this story before about two or three years ago on a different account, but when my life got busy, I forgot about my stories. I'm back now and decided to try to write this story again. I know I've put Alex in a couple of my stories without posting this story first (and I also put in Skipper's other daughters in one of my stories who actually isn't suppose to be born until after the sequel to Skipper's Secret), so I just wanted to post this story and then the sequel, that way you all know how Alex met her dad and how Sam was born, and who their mothers are!**

**I came up with the idea for this story before the Penguins of Madagascar movie came out, and I didn't want to change it or forget about Alex so when I wrote it again I tried not to think about the movie. I liked the story idea too much to change it just because of the movie; I'm sorry if that upsets anyone.**

**Okay, enough of me talking, on with the chapter! :)**

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It was early in the morning, and the sun shinned down on Central Park. A young penguin named Alex was waddling from tree to tree, hiding behind them so no human saw her. Every once in a while she would jump in a tree, and then she would jump into the air and do a flip or two, until she landed in the next tree. She kept this up til she saw the tall gates and brick walls circling the area in front of her.

She had made it to her destination.

The Central Park Zoo stood in front of her, the walls surrounding the zoo was casting a shadow that almost touched Alex's feet.

The penguin got a serious look on her face and her brow bent a little, showing how mad she was. She shook her head to clear it, but her eyes were still like tiny pools of hatred, which someone could drown in if they got on her bad side.

Alex took a few steps forward that brought her under an arch that seemed to be the entrance to the zoo. It wasn't until another step that she saw that the zoo was open. Very quickly, the penguin ran to the side of the arch, hoping the shadows would hide her. She closed her eyes, praying that the humans would walk by without looking in her direction.

Many humans past, but thankfully none saw Alex.

When it was clear, Alex began to waddle in the zoo. After she left the shadows behind, the sun hurt her eyes, but she didn't stop to wait until her eyes adjusted to the light. Instantly she ran to a pole she could barely see through her blurry version. No human saw her, probably because no one expect her to be there, so they didn't look down. Soon she was able to see again.

Once everyone was gone, she slid on her belly to a sign where she saw it was pointing to where all the exhibits were. She nodded and followed the direction it said the penguin habitat was at. She saw that nobody was surrounding the penguins on one side, so she thought it would be better to go on that side. _And, _she added to herself, _they have their backs to me so I can watch them without then seeing me._

Alex came to a halt and jumped to her feet, looking at the penguins, who were _acting _to be all cute and cuddly, waving to the people that were watching them. Then the humans started throwing fish in their habitat. Suddenly Alex's stomach growled. She watched in horror as one of the penguins lifted his head and look around as if he heard Alex's belly remind her of her hunger. Alex quickly ducked behind a garbage can.

A while past until finally Alex dared to look around the can. She saw that three of the penguins were eating fish, but one of them were looking around still and he stood a little away from the others. Alex could feel her heart racing, wondering if he knew someone was watching him. Then he turned to the tallest of the penguins, and Alex was near enough to hear what he asked.

"Do you feel like someone is watching us?" Alex could see that his eyes shift from side to side as if he was searching for something. She knew she should be hiding, but she wanted to know what the other penguin was going to say.

The tall penguin shrugged, turning to the other and swallowing the fish he was eating. "Well sir," he started," these humans are watching us."

"That's not what I meant, Kowalski!" the flat-headed penguin growled, a little loud. Alex looked closer, wondering if it could be him. She narrowed her eyes.

The penguin shrugged again. "You're only paranoid, Skipper." Then he went back to eating fish with the other two.

So it _was _him! She felt excitement mix with anger fill her up when she made her flippers into fists, wanting nothing more than to punch and kick him. She almost ran out of hiding and confront the lead penguin, but she stopped herself just in time, reminding herself that now wasn't the right time. _Not with all these humans around and definitely not with his team around him...I just want to wait for the right time..._

Slowly and cautiously, she backed away from the penguin habitat. Before she went into hiding, she had to find something to eat though. She glanced around and she felt joy pulse through her when she saw a box of fish on a table with no humans around. She slid over there and started eating. Once she was full, she looked around, trying to decide where to go to hide.

She check to make sure it was clear of any humans, and she dropped to her stomach, sliding to another part of the zoo. She paused when she came to a neighboring habitat of the penguins. There was a brick wall surrounding this one, and she had to crane her neck to see above the wall. She could see a very tall island in the center of the habitat and when her gaze switched to the very back she could see something big and plastic, kind like a castle, but Alex thought it looked like some kind of animal. She tried to see more by standing on her toes, but the wall was too tall. It was then that she realize humans were walking by.

Startled, Alex pressed her back against the wall and inched along it, daring not to breathe in fear that someone would see her. She looked around and saw the plaque she knew would tell her what kind of animal lived in the habitat. She was glad to see no human was around that area.

Making sure nobody saw her, Alex jumped onto the wall and looked down at the plaque. While on her journey, she had taught herself to read, so she could understand the human writing. She had read tons of books, and started really liking reading and listening to music.

"Lemur habitat," she said the words out loud, remembering her mother telling her stories about lemurs. However, she's never met a lemur. The animals at her old zoo wasn't really friendly and never really left their habitats. Suddenly curiosity got the better of her.

She looked down into the habitat, noticing for the first that there was a chair on the platform. She narrowed her eyes against the bright sunlight. Then she looked around the rest of the habitat, seeing a bar on the other side of the platform. She decided to jump into the habitat, knowing the longer she stood on the ledge, the more likely someone would see her.

Once she was on the ground, she walked around the habitat, going around the platform. She expected to see one of the lemurs, but all was silent. Then a shadow fell on her and she looked up, her mouth falling open when she saw a giant, object that had a head on an animal. Alex jumped back and ran back to the platform, hiding behind it. She never seen such a thing. What was it?

She dared to look around the platform at the weird thing, half expecting it to come to alive and start chasing her. She felt stupid when she saw it still sitting there. She sighed, about to get up and go investigate the strange thing when suddenly an animal popped out of nowhere, making Alex press against the platform.

She didn't know she wasn't breathing til she was lightheaded and she had to breathe deeply. All she could hear was the laughter of the unknown animal. Finally she pocked her head out of hiding and saw the creature _bouncing _on the huge, weird object! She stared in shock as the animal went up in down, laughing. Alex wondered if this was a lemur, seeing his ring tail and remembering that her mother said that some looked like that. She narrowed her eyes in confusion when she saw the hat on his head.

Curiously, Alex inched her way back to the huge object, happy to see that the lemur seem to know that it isn't a threat. _I doubt it's even alive, _she thought as she ran behind the object and hiding from the other animal. She kept watching it, fighting back a yawning. She found this creature very interesting. She didn't know what it was about him. There was just something that she couldn't quite understand that made her feel like she could just sit here and watch him for hours.

She tried to fight another yawn, but her beak parted in a massive yawn. She curled up behind the huge object, the lemur's laughter still in her ear. _I'll stay here until all the humans have left, and all the animals are asleep, _she declared in her head, closing her eyes and her last thought being before falling asleep, _I will do what I came here to do._

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Something pocked Alex's side, bring her back into consciousness. She slowly blinked open her eyes. A shape was looking down at her, and she heard a voice. When her eyes came into focus, she was that it was the lemur she saw before she went to sleep. He was talking to her, but Alex had missed what he was saying apparently. He stopped talking a heartbeat later and blinked, waiting for an answer.

Alex got to her feet and dusted off the dirt on her stomach. She then looked up at the lemur who was surprisingly much taller than her. "What?" she asked him.

"I said, who was you, penguin, and what are you doing in my kingdom?" the lemur repeated, walking a little closer to Alex and poking her belly, making her stumble backwards.

"Kingdom?" Before Alex could say anymore, four penguins appeared in the air, doing flips and landing in between Alex and the ring tail lemur.

The young penguin made her flippers into fists as her eyes landed on the leader of the group, and she felt her brow bend. Just seeing him made Alex want to attack him, but she knew he could probably beat her.

Skipper looked at the lemur and asked," Do you know this penguin, Ringtail?"

The ring tail lemur shook his head. "Why would I know this penguin? I have never seen her before in my life." He crossed his arms, adding," I thought you would know her, since she's a penguin, just like you, silly penguin." The lemur walked closer to Skipper and looked him in the eyes.

Suddenly two more lemurs appeared, one of them Alex knew was an aye-aye from her mother's stories, and the other was a smaller lemur, kinda like a mouse. The two lemurs walked to the taller lemur's side, and the aye-aye asked," What's going on?"

Nobody answered him.

Skipper turned to Alex and looked her over, crossing his flippers over his chest. "And who would you be?"

Alex stepped forward which brought her inches away from his beak. She smirked when she noticed his team took a step toward him as if to protect him, but he lifted his flipper to call them back. "Don't you recognize me?" She took a step back and looked down, shifting her feet on the ground. "Of course I was a baby when you left..."

Skipper and the others looked confused, she noticed. She sighed, but she looked back up at him with hard eyes. "My name is Alex," she introduced herself.

"Alex," the leader penguin muttered under his breath, but he added a little louder," That name sounds...so...familiar..." His eyes suddenly went huge and he gasps. Did he finally get it? "Alex! It is you! I mean, I haven't seem you in years. Not since–"

"Not since you left my mother," Alex interrupted, unable to hide her anger in those words.

"Skippah," the smallest penguin spoke up," who is this?"

Skipper didn't reply to him. It was like it was only him and Alex. They stared at each other. Skipper's eyes were still wide, while Alex's eyes were filled with hatred.

"Hello..." Alex paused for a moment, trying to make it dramatic. Then she continued," Father."

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I hope you all liked the first chapter! I have all the chapters written up already and I'm gonna post a chapter a day! :)**


	2. Family Reunion

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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Alex stared at her father, feeling the familiar anger that she felt every time she thought about how she grew up without a dad. Now it was stronger though. She could feel that she was tense as she glared at the lead penguin; she could feel her flippers being clench into fists as she took a step toward her father and he backed up. She was glad to see fear flash in his sapphire-blue eyes as she kept advancing.

"Mother has told me a lot about you," she finally said, continuing walking to him til he backed into the wall of the lemur habitat. Alex could see that he was looking for a way to escape, but if he tried to, Alex would be ready for him. It was time Skipper stopped running from his past and faced his daughter.

Alex was surprised and even slightly disappointed when the lead penguin lifted his head and looked the female penguin in the eyes rather than run away. Although he didn't say anything.

"What's wrong, father?" She spat out the word "father" like it was poison. She hated to admit that this penguin was her father. She did come here for the truth though. She was determined to know why Skipper just left her and her mother without even telling them why.

Before the lead penguin could reply, the smallest of the group waddled in between the father and daughter. He looked at Skipper; Alex couldn't see his eyes, but his voice sounded sad and hurt.

"You never told us you had a daughter, Skippah," he said, glancing at Alex.

"Well, you see Private," Skipper began, but he was interrupted by the tall lemur, who had walked over right behind Private.

"Could be please take this family reunion to your habitat?" the ring tail lemur asked, starting to push Skipper and Private away.

Alex tried her hardest not to laugh. There was something about the way he talked and acted like he was the penguins' leader that made Alex want to break down laughing. There was also something else deep down inside her that she never felt before, so couldn't say what it was. She didn't really care enough to try to figure it out though. She turned to her father, feeling angry at him once more. "I came here for the truth," she told him.

The ring tail lemur stopped pushing the penguins and turned to Alex. He muttered," I would like to know what happened, too." Alex couldn't be sure if he was talking to someone or himself.

Skipper walking to his daughter and grabbed her by the flipper, starting to pull her with him. "Come on, men!" he called to other members of his team. "We're going back to HQ!"

Alex tried to get away from her father, but he had a firm grip. She glanced over her shoulder at the lemur, who still stood where he was, watching as the penguins left his habitat. The other two lemurs joined him. Alex guessed they were as curious as she was about finding out the truth. She knew this was between her and Skipper though. She wondered if her father would let the other penguins listen to them talk. She hoped so; she didn't want to be left alone with her father. She was afraid if she was that she would attack him, and if she did that than he might not tell her the truth.

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Skipper was pacing from left to right in front of his daughter and teammates. Alex could see that he was trying to think of something to say. He had ordered everyone to be quiet while he was thinking. Alex reluctantly did what she was told, although she still felt anger at her father. She had to force her flippers to stay by her side, though she wanted so much to turn much into fist, jump on Skipper and punch his face. She could see his blood flowing out of his wound, the scarlet liquid touching the younger penguin's flipper as she looked down at her defeated father...

A nudge on her side made her snap out her trance. She turned to the youngest member of the team, who stood beside her. Not wanting to disobey his leader's orders made Private unable to speak, so he just stared at the female penguin with confused eyes. Alex wondered if he wanted to know more about her, but she didn't want to tell him anything about her, so she acted like she was obeying her father's order, too, although she couldn't careless about Skipper nor what he said. All she care about was the truth.

After what seemed like hours, Skipper finally came to a halt and turned to the other penguins. His eyes landed on Alex, who met his gaze steady.

"So, you came for the truth," he said as he walked until he stood right in front of his daughter. "Why didn't Daisy tell you?"

"My mother always took care of me," Alex replied, making her voice sound challenging. "She never wanted to hurt me, unlike you. She–"

"I did what I had to!" Skipper insisted, sounding kind of tired as if he was sicked of talking about this and wanted to get rib of Alex, so he never had to think about his daughter nor former mate ever again.

Alex had to calm herself before she could reply. "You _had _to leave me and my mother?" Suddenly she felt sadness over take her. "I just want to know why, father...Why leave us?" She knew there was anguish in her voice, but maybe if her father saw how much she was suffering he would gave her a break and tell her the truth.

Instead of replying to his daughter, Skipper turned to his team and said," Can you please gave us some privacy?"

The smart penguin, Kowalski, said," Of course." Then he started pushing the other two towards the ladder. Private and Rico went up the ladder with no hesitation, but Kowalski didn't follow them right now. He turned back to his leader and added," We'd be topside if you need us." His eyes glanced at Alex before he climb upwards.

Once they were gone, Skipper turned to Alex, who was still looking at the ladder. _Why was he looking at me that way? _She didn't understand the look, but it had made her uncomfortable, and she still felt his eyes on her even though he was gone. She sighed and turned back to her father.

"So," she began, trying to make her voice steady; she wanted to cry, but she forced herself not to. She had waited her whole life for his moment and now here it was. She finally stood in front of her father, about to find out what happened and why he just disappeared. "Are you going tell me the truth now?"

Skipper nodded and grabbed his daughter's flipper. He pulled her toward the couch; he motioned her to sit down, so she did. He sat beside her and took a deep breath.

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	3. The Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

**Note: Like I said in the first chapter, I came up with this idea before the Penguins of Madagascar movie came out and before it was revealed that the penguins were always together and that they are brothers (although the way the movie shows they saved the egg Private was in, he can't be their brother), and I didn't want to change this whole story idea. I'm sorry if that upsets anyone, but I like this story idea too much to change it.**

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He took a deep breath and began. "Well, to began with I was transporter to a zoo in Baton Rouge, Louisiana," the leader started his long tale to his daughter, and Alex stared at him, not wanting to miss a thing. "It was years before I met my teammates. I was there for a while until I met Daisy. At first I didn't pay any attention to her. I was trying to form a team with the other penguins who were all boys, but for some odd reason they didn't want anything to do with me. They thought I was crazy!" She could see that her father was really upset about what those penguins thought, but she pushed away her sympathy for him, remaining herself that he was a little crazy.

Alex tried not to roll her eyes as she glanced sideways, crossed as she muttered under her breath," What's with you and always having a team?"

She could see that Skipper had heard her, and she was surprised that he didn't comment on what she said. Instead he just continued with his story: "One day, a few weeks after Daisy arrived and when the other penguins were busy entertaining the humans, I was alone with her. I noticed that she was sweet, caring, and even cute." He suddenly looked embarrassed, and Alex had to stop herself from laughing.

"We–"Skipper cleared his throat as he stared at his daughter"–we started dating, but I didn't think I'd be there forever. After all I still wanted to find my team." He gestured to the secret lair all around them, before turning his sapphire-blue eyes back on his daughter, and Alex was surprised to see misery in there. "When Daisy told me I was gonna be a father I was willing to give all this up and stay in Louisiana with her." He sighed and got off the couch, walking to the center of the lair. He began to pace again as if lost in thought.

Alex was confused. She hurried to her father's side and asked," Then what happened? Why did you leave?"

Skipper lifted his sad filled eyes at his daughter. "I had to," he told her. "They needed me."

The female penguin just blinked at her father. "They?"

Nodding, Skipper said," While the other penguins were putting on a show for the humans I was taking care of you. You were so cute and I still remember holding you in my flippers." He folded his flippers up and rocked them back in forth as if he was trying to get a baby to sleep. Alex blinked, trying to find that hard-headed, tough penguin that her mother told her about under this sudden kind heart animal. If he loved her so much, then why did he leave?

"What happened then?" Alex asked, and Skipper looked up as if she knocked him out of distant memories and she tried not to wince at the haunt look on his face.

Then he shook his head as if to clear it. "Right. While I was holding you, I heard something and I looked up to see two penguins jump down in front of me," he continued. "I didn't know who they were, but I was ready to attack them if they tried to hurt you. However they explained to me that they needed my help with a certain mad evil dolphin." While he said this he punched his flipper, confusing Alex.

"Who?" she asked.

"My archenemy, Dr. Blowhole," Skipper replied. "But of course he wasn't my archenemy back then. He is now though!" He got a hated look on his face as if just thinking about the dolphin got under his feathers. Alex could understand that. For years the same thing happened when she thought about her father.

"So you left to fight this...dolphin?" Alex asked, taking a few steps forward. "Why didn't you come back?"

"I wanted to," Skipper told her, looking down and sighing. "Then I met Kowalski, then Rico, and finally Private. We formed this unit and I had to be their leader. I knew Daisy could take care of you. I knew she could raise you better than I could have; that's what kept me going all these years." He sighed. "Part of me wished I would have gone back, but if I did this team wouldn't exist."

Alex just stared at her father in shock. "So you choose some penguins you had just met over your own daughter?" She began to back up, suddenly not wanting to around her dad. How could he even choose something like that? He took a step toward her, but she spun around and ran toward the ladder, jumping over the steps. Before she disappeared through the hole, she called over she shoulder," I wish I never came here! I wish I never tried to find you!"

She pushed off the ladder and launched herself through the hole, not waiting for her dad to answer. The sudden sunlight burned her eyes, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of here. She could hear she dad climbing up the ladder after her.

She turned to jumped the gates so she wasn't in the habitat when the leader came out of the HQ, but she heard a British voice ask," Are you alright, then?" She suddenly realize she was on the edge of crying. She open her beak to reply, but just in, Skipper flipped out of the hole onto the platform and landed in front of his daughter.

"Hold it right there, Alex," he said sternly. "We aren't done talking!"

"Well I'm done listening!" she snapped, glaring at her father. "It's obvious that you don't want me. You much rather them!" She pointed to the three penguins, who she saw was staring at father and daughter with wide, confused eyes. "So just let me go back to my mother and I'll never bother you again." She heard her own voice crack, but she didn't back down from her dad. She continued to glare at him.

"I understand you're mad, Alex, but–"Skipper began, but Alex interrupted him.

"Mad?" she yelled, losing her tempered. All the anger she felt of growing up without a dad–and now learning he choose penguins he didn't even know over his own daughter–was starting to spill out. "I'm past mad, _Skipper! _You don't even deserve the title as dad anymore!" She took a step toward the leader of the penguins, but suddenly the other three penguins were in between them.

"Okay, Alex," Kowalski began, holding his flippers up and staring at the penguin with that same unknown look he had earlier before Skipper told his daughter the truth. "I know you're upset with Skipper, but hurting him and screaming at him won't change the past. What is done is done. What really matters is that he's in your life now. Maybe he can try to be your father _now. _Right Skipper?" He turned to his leader, who was nodding and staring at his daughter with hopeful eyes.

Alex continued to glare at her father, then shook her head. Instead of replying, she began to back away slowly. When one of the team took a step toward her, she spun around and did a flip in the air, clearing the water easily and landing on the other side of the gates. She sighed when she heard her father say that she got that from him.

She dropped to her stomach and started sliding away, aware that the other penguins were on her tail. She could hear Skipper calling to her, but she ignore him, turning a corner and quickly jumping onto a table, hiding in the umbrella. She sighed with relief when the four penguins went by without seeing her.

Jumping down, she made her way back where she came from, but she heard something. Thinking fast, she ran to the side of the building and pressed her back to it. She pocked her head around the side of the building, but didn't see anyone. Maybe it was just her imagination?

"You know he's gonna find you, right?"

Alex jumped at the voice, and she got into a fighting position as the tall penguin stepped out of under the table, ready to fight him if he tried to take her back to her father. She was determined to do whatever it takes to avoid seeing that penguin again!

There was laughter in Kowalski's eyes–and that unknown sparkle that always seemed to be there every time he laid his eyes on Alex. He waddled over to the smaller penguin, laying his flipper on her shoulder, the humor suddenly vanishing from his eyes as sympathy replaced it. "I'm sorry, Alex," he murmured. "I have to take you to Skipper. It's an order." He sighed and shifted his feet.

Alex thought for a moment. _Could I trick him into disobeying his leader? He looks so uncomfortable with this whole thing! _Alex frowned deeply and looked down on the ground, muttering," I just thought when I found my dad it'll be different. I didn't realize that it'll hurt so much." She glanced back up at Kowalski and was glad to see deep sorrow in his eyes. _It was working! _For the first time in her whole life she was glad someone felt sorry for her. Maybe Kowalski will let her leave without her father having to know that he found her so he doesn't get in trouble.

Suddenly a young, British voice said from the other side of the building," Great! You found her, Kowalski! I'll go find Skipper!"

The tall penguin slid to the smaller one and covered his beak with his flipper. Private stared up at him with huge, confused eyes. Kowalski dragged Private over to Alex.

"What are you doing, Kowalski?" asked Private as soon as the smart penguin let go of his beak. He stared at his friend, then at Alex, and then back again. Alex could see that he was confused, but she was too worried about him running off and finding Skipper to care about the young penguin's feeling. She knew of all the penguins, Private seemed the closest to Skipper.

"Just look at her, Private." Kowalski pointed a flipper at Alex, and she frowned at Private, showing him how miserable she was and hoping that he'll know she doesn't want to go back to her father.

Private frowned when he saw the look in Alex's eyes and it was a while til finally he nodded. "Okay," he murmured. "I can't hand her over to Skipper like this, knowing how miserable she is. What are we suppose to do, then?"

Shrugging, Kowalski answered," Hide her, I suppose."

Before Private could reply, a grunting noise started coming from somewhere nearby, and Alex turned to see Rico standing a little way off. He was pointing and grunting as he jumped up and down.

His friends slid to him, covering his beak so he would stop making noises. Alex slowly followed them, looking around and making sure her father wasn't near. By the time she got to them, Kowalski and Private had calmed Rico down, and he was listening as Kowalski tried to convince him to go against Skipper and help Alex.

At first, Rico looked surprise, and Alex thought he was about to push his friends off and go find the leader, telling him where Alex was.

Alex waited several moments for the three penguins to discuss over things.

"Are you with us?" Kowalski finally asked.

Rico seemed to think for a long moment, before nodding.

"That's great!" Private cheered, a little too loud, and Alex instantly looked around, expecting her father to come out of nowhere and catch her.

Kowalski covered his beak and whispered," Shh!"

The private nodded, his eyes huge.

The smart penguin thought for a moment, tapping his beak. Then he said," Let's go to the lemur habitat."

"Why?" Private asked, sounding confused.

"That would be the last place Skipper would look," Kowalski answered, beginning to walk away.

The other penguins followed him. Alex was grateful that the others were with her, but she still didn't understand why Kowalski agreed to help her so easier. _And what is that look he keeps giving me? He's giving it to me right now! _She could see the tall penguin looking at her with warm, bright eyes, but there was something else deep down in them that she couldn't read. _I don't know if I want to find out either. I have more important things to do right now than to worry about some boy!_

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up later today! :)**


	4. The MP3 Player

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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"You want to hide you here?" the tall lemur asked after Kowalski had told him that they were trying to keep Alex away from her father, but he didn't tell him why, Alex noticed. Alex guessed he was hoping the lemur would agree without asking for an explanation, and she was glad that he looked look he really didn't care. Maybe he'll agree after all without asking why.

"Precisely," Kowalski replied, nodding thoughtfully.

"But why do you want to stay here?" It was the aye-aye who had ask the question, and Alex felt her hope shatter in the single question. She didn't want to explain to these lemurs why she wanted to avoid her father. Kowalski and the other two had heard them arguing, but not even they know the whole story.

Alex watched as the three penguins exchanged glances when the lemur asked the question, but before they could answer, the tall lemur spoke up.

"It doesn't matter _why _they want to stay here, Maurice." He glared down at the aye-aye, before turning his gaze back on the penguins. Alex felt like he wanted to say something, but it never came.

"It doesn't?" Maurice questioned, eying the other lemur suspiciously.

"Nope," the ring tail lemur replied, keeping his eyes on the penguins. "I'm sure that they would be telling us in no time. But," he added to Kowalski, smiling at him," if you want to stay here, you got to do me a favor."

Alex heard Maurice mutter," Yep, that's the King Julien I know."

_King? _Alex suddenly remember the weird looking hat on the tall lemur's head and she narrowed her eyes. _This lemur is a _king? _Wow! That's so cool!_

"What favor?" Private's voice broke into Alex's thought. He sounded confused and interested at the same time.

The tall lemur circled the penguins, letting his tail rub against them, before coming to a halt beside Maurice again. Then they looked at each other; Maurice nodded as if he was telling his king to go on.

"Well," Julien finally continued," when the zoo was opened not long ago, I was listening to these kids talk. They were talking about losing something called a...um...what was it called, Maurice?" He turned to the aye-aye.

"I think they called it a MP3 Player, Your Majesty," he answered, shrugging.

"A MP3 Player?" Kowalski echoed.

Alex had heard about this human thing. She's watched kids listened to them before, and even had one herself til she lost it. It's something where humans held music that they like, and they use a snake like core called headphones to plug into the MP3 Player.

"Yes." Julien nodded. "If you find me this...thingy, you stay can stay as long as you like." He smiled at the penguins, leaning towards them.

"But it could be anywhere in the zoo!" Private pointed out, waving his flippers wildly, then sighing.

"Even if they did lose it here," Kowalski added, looking down.

Rico nodded in agreement.

"No, they did lose it here," Julien told them. "I think they said they lost it someone near the alligator habitat." He grabbed his tail and started brushing it as if lost in thought.

"You don't suppose Roger's seen it, do you?" Private asked.

"There's one way to find out," Kowalski said. "We got to go ask him. We still have to keep a look out for Skipper though." The smart penguin turned to Alex and added," It's probably best if you stay here, so if we run into your father, he would still think we're looking for you."

"When are you going tell Skippah that we are protecting her from him though?" Private asked, sounding a little distress, as if he didn't like the thought of lying to his leader.

"We'll tell him eventually," Kowalski assured him, but Alex saw his eyes turn dark as if he didn't look forward to tell his leader what they went against orders.

The three penguins got ready to leave, while Alex stepped back once or twice til she stood beside Maurice, when Julien let go of his tail and said," Or they could have lost it by the chimps?"

Private looked at him, then at Kowalski. "Phil and Mason?"

Julien nodded, then frowned. "Or was it by Marlene's habitat? Or the elephant's? Or in the park?" He kept naming places in the entire zoo, but Alex could see Kowalski was getting very upset now.

"Alright, that's enough," he interrupted, sternly, making the lemur shut his mouth. "We'll look all over the zoo if we have to."

"And the park," Private sighed.

Rico nodded, although Alex saw that there was a bored look in his eyes.

The three penguins left the lemur habitat before Julien could gave them more places to look.

Alex glanced around the lemur habitat.

She saw black-and-white out of the corner of her eyes. That's when she noticed Skipper had just jumped in the habitat. As quick as she could, she jumped down to the ground just as her father jumped onto the platform, in front of the lemurs. He faced them and asked," Have you lemurs seen Alex?"

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	5. The Talk

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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Julien opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked from side to side, trying to think of something to say. _I don't think I should give away her secret. Should I pretend like I have no idea what he's talking about? That would make me look stupid though. The other penguins have no__t__ found my music thing__y__ yet, though they are looking for it now._

He felt uncomfortable under Skipper's eyes and knew if he didn't reply soon the penguin would know something was up. Finally he said," I haven't seen her since you silly penguins left with her."

_I'm the king, _he added to himself._ I can lie to whoever I want!_

At first, Skipper looked like he didn't believe the ring tail lemur, and that he wanted nothing more than to argue with him, but the penguin just shook his head. "Fine," he said, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. I'll go look somewhere else." The leader still looked like he didn't believe the king, but he didn't say anything else. Skipper did a back flip out of the lemur habitat and disappeared behind the wall.

Once he was gone, Julien let out a sigh and said out loud," That was a close one!"

Maurice nodded in agreement, still looking where the penguin disappeared to.

A moment later, Alex jumped back on the platform and ran to Julien. She hugged him, much to the king's annoyance. He growled a little under his breath as he pushed her off, telling her," You are new here, so you don't know that I hate being hugged when I'm not the one who's doing the hugging."

Alex blinked confused eyes at him, but she nodded.

"Another thing," he added, leaning closer to her," if you're going to be staying here for a while, you should be knowing something, very, very, _very _important." He pointed to his feet as he went on," There's absolutely _no _touching of the royal feets!"

The penguin still looked confused, Julien noticed, but he was glad she nodded.

Thinking about his feet made a thought pop in his head. Julien turn to Maurice and asked," Have you seen Mort?" He didn't care about the annoying lemur, but he missed kicking him, and right about now, feeling so annoyed that the penguins wanted to use his kingdom for some hide-and-seek game, he need _someone _to kick.

The other lemur shook his head as he looked around. "He was here this morning, but I haven't seen him since the zoo closed." Maurice started walking around and calling Mort's name, but there was no answer.

Julien noticed the female penguin watching them. She walked over to him. "Mort's that little mouse-looking lemur, right?" she asked.

"Yes, and he's so annoying," the king had to add, rolling his eyes. He thought maybe he had gone off by himself, but he knew Mort usually go insane if he was away from King Julien too long.

Before Alex could say anything else, Maurice reappeared. "He's not in the habitat, Your Majesty," he reported, worry in his voice. Even Julien started to fear the worse. He hated the annoying little creature, but he didn't like the idea of him wandering off by himself or laying somewhere, hurt.

"Well, go find him," he ordered his adviser and pushed him to the edge of the platform. "If he's not here, I can't be hating him or kicking him!"

"Alright," Maurice said as he jumped off the platform and onto the wall, disappearing over it. Julien smiled, glad that his subject did whatever he told him without questioning his king.

Julien then realize that he was left alone with the female penguin. He turned back to her and saw that she was staring at him with wide eyes. He walked over to her, trying not to show how uncomfortable he felt about being alone with a stranger.

"Your Highness?" Alex's voice broke into Julien's trouble thoughts, and he felt a delighted shiver run up his spine when she called him that. "Why do you want to kick the little lemur?" she continued after a few moments when Julien didn't answer. "Isn't he one of your loyal subjects?"

Instead of answering her right away, he began to think. _Maybe I'll like this penguin after all, _he thought, remembering that nobody, besides Maurice and Mort, has looked at him as a king since he left his home on Madagascar. He looked down at Alex and saw her staring at him, but she didn't say anything else as if she was waiting for him to answer.

"You see," Julien explained as he walked over to his throne and hopped on it," Mort worships me, but he's so annoying." He fell on his seat with a groan to make his point. He looked down to see that Alex was watching him with huge, interested eyes, not missing a thing the king did. _Not even Maurice seemed this loyal to me...I'm starting to really like this penguin...Maybe I could get a new subject to m__y__ kingdom? _He crossed his legs and glanced down at the penguin, adding," And he's always touching the royal feets, and he's just plain on ugly!"

Alex blinked, staring up at the lemur, but Julien had ran out of things to say. He threw his legs across one of the arms of the chair and laid his head on the other arm, while his hands were on his stomach. He looked up at the sky, once again thinking about his music thingy that the penguins were trying to find him. He hoped they get back soon; he was getting impatient.

"Your Majesty?"

Julien's thoughts was interrupted, which angered the king, but instead of yelling at the penguin, he just sighed. He realized that she had called him something only Maurice and Mort called him since he left Madagascar and remembering that just made the anger melt away.

"Yes?' the king asked, but not taking his eyes off of the sky as he watched clouds drift by. He loved watching the sky; it would calm him when he was upset about something.

"I was just wondering if you..." Alex's voice trailed away, and Julien heard a shuffling noise as if she was moving her feet on the platform. She didn't try to finish her sentence.

Julien tore his gaze from the sky and glance down at her. "Well?" he prompted.

He was surprised to see that she looked awkward, as if she was regretting breaking the silence. Finally she took a deep breath and said," I was just wondering if you knew what a MP3 Player was? You seem like you really wanted the others to find it," she added quickly when Julien raised a questioningly eyebrow," but it seemed like you didn't know what it was."

Julien sat up in surprise and looked down at the penguin. At first he was going to tell her that of course knew he what it was, because the king knew everything. Then he sighed and said," Fine, I don't know exactly what it is...but I heard the kids say something about music and that's all I need to hear!" He jumped off his throne and landed in front of Alex, leaning toward her. "Do you know what this thingy is?"

Alex nodded. "I know a few things about MP3 Players," she told him, seeming a little proud of herself. "I know that humans put songs on them and listen to them with a core thing called headphones, but unless the guys can get you pair of headphones, your MP3 Player is basically useless. I'm sorry, my king." She looked down as if it was her fault and Julien blinked at her, confused.

Suddenly his tail shot up when a thought hit him. _A core? Could that thingy I found by my habitat be the headphones? _"What does this core look like?" he asked the penguin.

"It's straight and looks kinda like a snake, but it parts on one end, and on the other end there's a weird looking thing, where the humans would plug it up in the MP3 Player."

He thought for a moment, then without replying to the penguin, he turned around and ran across the platform, heading to the bar. When he got there, he jumped over the stools and the counter, going straight for the shafts. He grabbed the snake-like thing and ran back to Alex.

He opened his hands when he got back. The young penguin looked at what was in the king's hands.

"That's headphones alright!" she cheered. "Where did you find it?"

"After the kids left, I saw that they dropped something, so I went to check it out, and I found this." The king lifted the core in the air. Then he lowered it and studied it a little more. The more stuff he learned about humans, the more they interested him. Now he couldn't wait for the penguins to get back, so he could find out how to work the MP3 Player. He felt excitement running through his body as he looked the core up and down. He used one of his hands to hold onto the pointed end and let the other end fell to the ground. Then he used his other hand to lift the two ends up and study them. _Weird..._

He began to get impatient the longer he waited for the penguins to return.

"What is taking them so long?" the king demanded, aware that his voice was thick with impatience.

"They'll be back soon," Alex promised, sounding calmer. "Have patience, my king."

Julien was so restless that he didn't shiver when Alex called him "her king". He jumped back on his throne, the core still in his hands. He began to eye the core and making it move with one hand while he used the other one to hold it.

_Hurry up, penguins! _he thought in his head as he watched the core go back and forth in front of him.

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up later today! :)**


	6. The Search for the MP3 Player

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

**Note: The song that is mentioned in this chapter is called _Dove and Grenada_ by Hollywood Undead. I'm not against this song, but I know not everyone likes it, and I think this is how the penguins would react to the song. If you want to look it up, I must warn you, it can get ****graphic. Also, _Dark Side _by Kelly Clarkson is mentioned in this chapter, but of course I do not own either of these songs.**

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The penguins looked all over the zoo, in and around every habitat. They even looked in the park, behind every single tree, around every rock. There was no sign of the MP3 Player though. Now they were headed back to the zoo, upset that they couldn't find what they were looking for. They hoped Julien would still let them stay with him even if they didn't have what he wanted. They had theirs heads bowed, walking in a ling with Kowalski in the lead, and Private following him, with Rico being up the rear.

"It's too bad we couldn't find the MP3 Player," Private remarked as the penguins walked through the entrance to the zoo. They started heading to the lemur habitat.

Kowalski nodded in agreement, sighing; he heard Rico grunt and guessed he also agreed. "If only one of the other animals saw the kids with the MP3 Player," the tall penguin murmured, but all the animals they asked said they didn't see anything like that.

Then he realize that his friends didn't reply to what he said, and when he turned around he saw that they had stopped walking.

He waddled to them and asked," Why did you stop?"

Private lifted his flipper and pointed straight ahead of him. Kowalski looked at the young penguin, not understanding why he looked a little unsure, but it kind of made him want to slap the back of his head to snap him out of it. Without Skipper here to give him permission, though, he just shrugged and turned where Private was pointing.

He saw a building in front of them, and when he looked closer he noticed that he could see three animals sitting in there through the window. Kowalski narrowed his eyes when he recognized them as the chimps and the little lemur, Mort. They were sitting around the computer, not even trying to pay attention for zookeepers who could be here after hours.

As they watched, Phil turned to Mason and said something with his hands. Mason turned to Mort and Kowalski guessed he pasted down what his friend said, but they were too far away to hear what he said. The tall penguin stared at the animals in confusion as the lemur said a quick reply and put his hand on the computer mouse, starting to move it. Kowalski had no idea what they could be doing, but he wanted to find out.

"What are they doing?" Private's voice broke into Kowalski's thoughts, making him glance down at him and shrug, but before he could reply suddenly Maurice appeared beside them. Kowalski was slightly surprised nobody saw him sneak to them; he guessed they were all too focus on the animals in the zoo building.

"What's Mort doing?" the aye-aye asked, turning puzzled eyes on the penguins.

Kowalski shrugged again. "One way to find out," he simply replied, dropping to his stomach and sliding to the building. He was aware that the others were behind him, and he was thankful for that. _Maybe if I do become leader of this unit..._He couldn't bring himself to finish his thought, knowing the only way he'll be leader is if Skipper dies, and he doesn't want that to happen.

They jumped through the window, the penguins instantly getting in fighting positions, while Maurice just stood there, looking at them with confused eyes. Then Kowalski remembered that they weren't here to fight, and he lowered his flippers, waddling to the table as Mason walked to the edge.

"What are you all doing here?" the chimp asked, looking down at Kowalski.

Kowalski was about to reply, but then he noticed Mort leaning toward the computer and he pressed a button. The penguin was about to run over there and tell him that he had no idea how to work a computer. However, the room was filled with music a heartbeat later.

Maurice jumped on the table beside his friend. "What are you doing, Mort?" he asked over the loud music.

Mort didn't reply. He just pointed to the computer.

Kowalski hopped onto the table and looked at the screen. He saw some weird looking window open and it had some writing on it. He felt the familiar annoyance he always felt when he was remained that he couldn't read. He was a genius; he should be able to read! Then he glanced around the computer and saw something plugged into it.

"Is that the MP3 Player?" he asked as walked to it. He tried to reach for it and pull it out, but just then Mort jumped on him, pulling him backwards. Kowalski tried to knock him off; the little lemur had a firm grip though. In the struggle Kowalski took a few steps backwards until the table under him vanished. He fell to the ground, Mort still on him, but as soon as the penguin hit the floor, the little lemur jumped off him and back onto the table.

Private and Rico ran over to their friend, staring down at him with wide eyes. Kowalski struggled to his feet, rubbing the back of his head, wondering what got into Mort. Then finally he was able to understand the words of the song, but he didn't like what he heard.

"What song is that?" the smart penguin asked out loud, not really wanting an answer, but he had to know.

"It's called _Dove and Grenada _by Hollywood Undead," Mason told him, jumping off the table and landing beside the penguins. "Phil had read the titles to a few songs." He pointed to where his friend still stood on the table with the lemurs.

"Out of all the songs, he wants to listen to this one?"Private asked, sounding just as disgusted with the song as Kowalski was.

Narrowing his eyes, Kowalski looked up at the table. He was surprised to hear Mort singing along with the song. He was singing the exact words as if he's heard it several times before.

Kowalski turned back to Mason. "How many times have you listen to this song?"

The chimp shrugged. "A few times," he replied. "When we first came across it, he listened to it, but when Phil and I was going to find another song about half way through this one because we didn't like the lyrics, he had said no. We let him listen to it, because we didn't think it would bring any harm, but when we went it change it again when it was over–"

"He still wouldn't allow you to," Kowalski guessed, starting to think into this. He looked at Mort, who was sitting down in front of the computer, watching lines move all over the screen as he signed the song. _He really seemed to like this song, but why? _Maybe if they could find another song that he could like, Mort would forget all about this song. Kowalski guessed it would be alright if he was obsess over another song, but there was just something about this song he didn't like.

Mort won't let them change the song, though, so they couldn't just stroll over there and find another song. If they did he might attack again.

The smart penguin turned to Private and Rico, ordering," Grab him and _don't _like him go, no matter what he does."

The two penguins nodded, jumping onto the table. They grabbed his arms and dragged him away from the computer. Mort started kicking and screaming, but Rico covered his muzzle with his flipper as he and Private jumped off the table with Mort still in their flippers firmly. They dragged him across the room, as far away from the computer as possible. Maurice ran after them.

Kowalski jumped back onto the table and turned to the computer, putting his flipper on the mouse. He started going through the songs that Mason and Phil read to him. There were a lot of songs on this MP3 Player, and Kowalski saw a few titles that he guessed Julien would like. He wasn't seeing anything that Mort would like though, and he was about to gave up til he found a song Mason said was called _Dark Side_ by Kelly Clarkson. He thought maybe he'll like that, and anything was better than that other song.

He clicked on the song and the room was filled with music once more. He turned around to his friends, about to tell them to let go of Mort, just as the little lemur kicked the penguins away. Kowalski braced himself for the impact, seeing the little creature running right for him; it never came. He opened his eyes and saw his friends had grabbed onto Mort again.

"Listen, Mort," he said, jumping off the table and waddling to the other animals," you can't listen to this song over and over again. We got to get the MP3 Player to Julien."

At the sound of his king's name, Mort stopped trying to wriggle out of Private and Rico's flippers. He blinked up at the tall penguin. "King Julien wants the little music player?" he asked, his eyes huge.

"Yep," Kowalski replied, nodding.

"Oh," the little lemur murmured. "I guess I can give it up for King Julien..." Kowalski knew he was sad about losing his music player, but he also knew his loyalty toward his king made him unable to object.

_ For once the lemurs' whole royalty thing actually came in hand__y__, _he thought, turning back to the table. Mason unplugged the MP3 Player and the song stopped playing. The chimp gave it to Kowalski, who turned to his friends and said," Let's get this back to Julien."

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	7. A New Subject

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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Alex watched as the lemur king messed around with the headphones while he sat on his throne. The young penguin was bored, and she wanted to find something more interesting to do, but she tried to hide this from the ring tail lemur. She didn't want to offend him, so she sat in front of his chair and watched the curious Julien look the core up and down, examining it as it laid in his hands.

Finally the king sighed and threw the headphones to the ground as if bored with it.

Instantly, Alex jumped to her feet and ran to catch them. She lifted her flippers, catching the headphones right before they flew out of the habitat. She then noticed that she was on the very edge of the platform, so she took a few steps forward before she fell to the ground. When she looked in front of her, she found herself looking into yellow eyes and she had to stop herself from running into the king.

She waited for the ring tail lemur to say something, but it never came. He just looked at her, studying her in the way he was studying the headphones. Alex felt uncomfortable,, but she couldn't just tell him to knock it off. He was the king after all, and Alex had to do what he told her.

Although Alex wondered why he was looking at her like that. "Your Majesty?"

"You're really thinking I'm being a real king?" the ring tail lemur asked.

"Of course," Alex replied, a little shocked. "Your name is _King _Julien, right? And you do wear a crown?" She pointed to the hat on his head.

"Yes!" he cheered, sounding happy as he jumped up and down. "I am the king!"

Alex just looked at him, not sure what to do, so she just offered the headphones back to him, but the king shook his head.

"You can...um...hold onto that until I get my music thingy," he said.

"Alright," Alex responded, being her flipper down, the core still firmly in it.

Then she noticed that Julien had a smile on his face, and she wanted to ask him what he wanted, but she just stared at him, hoping he'll tell her himself. She didn't want to speak to him again without being spoken to first in respect to the king.

Instead of saying anything at first, the ring tail lemur circled around her and came to a halt beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder and his tail around her body. "Would you mind doing something for me?" he asked, looking her in the eyes.

Alex was surprised that the king suddenly wrapped himself around her, but she didn't want him to see how shock she was so she looked on the ground, kicking her feet out a little. "Sure," she murmured.

"Wonderful!" Julien parted from Alex and stood in front of her, staring down at her. "I'm thirsty so go make your king a smoothie." He smiled down at her, but Alex just blinked confused eyes at him, not sure what he meant.

"A smoothie, Your Majesty?" Alex asked. She's never heard such a thing.

"Yes," the lemur replied, nodding.

Alex suddenly felt embarrassed. She didn't want the king to know that she's never heard about smoothies so she just nodded and walked to where he was pointing. She glanced around the bar, hopping over the stools and counter with no problem. She looked behind her to see Julien jumping back on his throne. She felt horror go up her spine when he glanced in her direction, and she quickly turned away from him.

She glanced around the bar, noticing a bunch of fruits and a few cups with colorful liquids in there. She then saw a weird looking metal and plastic thing that had a handle on the top of it with buttons on the part that stuck out a little. She looked closer, wondering what it did. It was then that she realize there was tiny blades inside the plastic part.

"What's taking so long?" she heard the king cry out, making Alex jump in surprise. She knew the longer she made him wait the more he'll get impatient.

"Almost done!" she lied, silently cussing herself for lying to the king, but promising herself that she'll make it up to him later. She grabbed the nearest fruit–mangoes, she noticed–and she took the lid off the weird looking machine. She threw the fruits in as she grabbed one of the cubs, trying to hurry so the king wouldn't yell at her anymore. She squirted a few drops in, before grabbing another cup. She didn't know what was in the cups, because they didn't have labels, but she hoped it would make the drink tasty.

Finally satisfied with what she put in the machine, she put the lid back on and looked at the buttons, pressing the "on" button. She jumped in surprise when it started going crazy, shaking a little, but then she relaxed and watched in awed as the machine smashed the fruits. After a few moments she turned the machine off and grabbed an unused cup.

"Is it done yet?" the king asked, and Alex glanced over her shoulder to see him staring in her direction.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" she called back as she pulled the drink into the cup and grabbed a straw. She put the straw into the drink as she walked back to the king, handing him the drink when she got there.

He took it and sat back down, taking tiny sips as if savoring it. Alex watched him slowly, brightened when she saw his eyes light up.

"It's delicious!" he exclaimed, taking bigger sips now.

Alex was delighted her king liked it. "Really?" she asked, smiling at him.

He just nodded and kept drinking it til it was all gone. Then he threw the cup behind him. Alex slid on her belly and jumped to her feet, managing to caught it just in time before it fell to the ground. She set it on the bar and went back to the throne.

Julien was watching her closely. "Uh how would you like to be my new subject?" he asked unexpectedly.

Alex just stared up at him, not sure what to say. Could she say no? Not that she wanted to though. After thinking about it, she decided that it could be an interesting experience. She stiffen her body and saluted him, declaring," I promise to always be the best subject I can be and always be loyal to you!"

The king blinked at her, then smiled. "That's great!"

"What do you want me to do now, Your Highness?" she asked, relaxing her body and lowering her flipper as she stared up at her king.

Julien jumped off his throne, running to the other side of his habitat. Alex was trying to decide if she should go with him, when he suddenly reappeared, holding a stick that had leaves at the top of it. He handed it to Alex, who grabbed it without question. Then the ring tail lemur jumped onto his throne and crossed his legs.

"Begin fanning me, subject," he declared.

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up later today! :)**


	8. A Love Secret

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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The three penguins and two lemurs were headed to the lemur habitat. Kowalski held onto the MP3 Player, smiling down at it. He couldn't believe they had found it. They had actually completed a mission without Skipper! For a while he was beginning to doubt they'd ever find it, and Julien would refuse helping them, but who would have guessed Mort would have it all along?

"It's a good thing we found the MP3 Player," Private remarked, breaking into Kowalski's thoughts. The young penguin walked beside him as they continued their long journey through the zoo.

Kowalski nodded in agreement to what the penguin said, but he didn't reply. He kept his gaze glued ahead of him. He was keeping watch out for Skipper, so the leader didn't sneak up on them.

Then he realize that the lemurs, who were walking a little ways behind the penguins, were talking. He could hear what they were saying. "Why did I have to give up the little music player?" Mort was asking, his voice sounding pleading and Kowalski pictured him looking up at Maurice with hung, sad eyes.

"I know it's got to be hard for you," Maurice replied, and Kowalski could tell that he was only trying to comfort his little friend, but there was something in his voice that suggest he didn't know why Mort liked the MP3 Player so much. "But it's for the king," he added after a moment's pause. "You don't want to go against him now, do you?"

"I'll never go against King Julien!" Mort responded, his voice raising to show that he was surprised that Maurice would even ask that.

"Plus," the aye-aye added," I bet he'll let you listen to it every once in a while."

_Yeah, if that happens, my friends and I are going to start flying! _Kowalski thought, not believing that Julien would let Mort use the MP3 Player once it was in his hands. The king hardly let's him touch anything that is his, which means the only thing that Mort could touch without being yelled at is the ground, unless Julien decides to claim that as well.

They were almost to the lemur habitat when Kowalski heard someone call out to them. He singled for the others to stop so he could listen. A second later, Skipper appeared in front of him. Kowalski gasped when he saw his leader; he had jumped back when Skipper slid to him, which made the MP3 Player slip out of his flipper, but Rico caught it before it hit the ground.

"Skippah?" Private stepped forward, looking his leader up and down. "What's wrong? You look horrible!"

Kowalski shook his head to clear it, forcing his heart to stop racing. When Skipper appeared out of nowhere he could have swore his heart could stop beating any moment, but now he was relaxed, and he saw that Private was right. The lead penguin was looking from side to side, his eyes bloodshot and his breathing heavy.

The smart penguin walked to Skipper, a little unsure. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I've looked _everywhere _for Alex!" Skipper explained, his voice betraying his fear. "She's nowhere! It's like she just vanished!" He threw his flippers up wildly in panic, and Kowalski felt sorry for his leader.

He exchanged a glance with the other two.

"Let's just take him to her," Private whispered to Kowalski, while Rico nodded in agreement.

"Skipper," Kowalski began as he turned to his leader, but Skipper wasn't listening anymore. He was looking all around, going in circles as if he expected Alex to just appear.

"Skippah?" Private called to him a little louder, but Kowalski could see the young penguin was a little frighten of the leader.

Skipper stopped spinning and snapped his gaze to his team. "What?" he demanded.

"We know–"

Kowalski was interrupted by Maurice, who walked in between him and Skipper. "I thought you wanted to keep her away from him," he whispered, glancing at Skipper, who was glaring at the lemur.

"We just can't sit back and watch Skipper get _more _paranoid," the smart penguin whispered back, hoping the leader didn't hear.

"I don't think he could get anymore paranoid," Maurice murmured. Then he sighed and said," Very well. Do what you want." And with that said, the aye-aye went back to Mort, who was still behind the penguins.

Kowalski waddled over to Skipper. "We know where your daughter is."

Skipper turned on him sharply, glaring at him. "You do?"

"Yes, follow us."

The penguins and lemurs began to walk back to the lemur habitat, but when they got there, Skipper came to a halt, shaking his head and pointing to the wall.

"I already checked here," the leader said. "She's not there."

Maurice glanced at Skipper, frowning a little. "She was there the whole time." He looked down at his feet.

"You mean you lemurs lied to me?" Skipper demanded, glaring at him.

"Sorry, Skipper," Maurice murmured," but they told us to." He pointed to the other three penguins, who all gasps and started looking around, pretending they had no idea what he was talking about.

Kowalski winced when he saw hurt appear in Skipper's eyes. "You told them to lie to me?" he asked, turning to his team. "Why?" Before any of them could reply, the hurt was replace with anger as the leader shouted," Why did _you _lie to me?"

_We're in trouble now, _Kowalski thought, but he didn't regret lying to his leader if it meant helping Alex. He'd never tell that to Skipper though.

"I'm sorry, Skippah," Private apologized, walking to the penguin, but Skipper stepped back. "Alex wanted us to. She was really upset and–"

He stopped talking when Skipper lifted his flipper, the anger still in his eyes. "I don't care what Alex wanted," he growled. "If I can't even trust my own team, then I don't know who to trust!"

Kowalski wanted to tell him that he could trust them, but when he opened his beak, nothing came out. He shut it again and looked down at his feet, feeling ashamed.

Without another word, Skipper jumped into the lemur habitat, leaving his team and lemurs where they stood on the other side of the wall. A few seconds later they heard Skipper yell, and instantly his team jumped into the habitat, followed more slowly by the lemurs.

Kowalski stood there in shock, not believing his eyes. Julien sat in his chair, while Alex fanned him with the stick the lemurs put leaves on. There was a couple of empty cups beside the throne as if Julien had a few smoothies. The two animals looked up startled when Skipper yelled. Kowalski wasn't surprised that the leader looked so mad.

"Ringtail!" he screamed, storming over to the chair and hopping onto it, glaring down at the lemur. "What do you think you are doing? Why is my daughter fanning you?"

Julien met Skipper's angry eyes steadily, before pushing the penguin off him and making him fall off the chair. Kowalski helped the leader to his feet, but Skipper kept glaring at the lemur king.

The ring tail lemur jumped off his throne, waving his hand to Alex and she lowered the fan. Kowalski watched, wondering what was going in. He couldn't help but glance in Alex's direction and was shock to see that she had her gaze glued on the king as he towered over Skipper. _Did she like him __or something?_

He slid over to Alex and whispered to her," Well good news is we got the MP3 Player. Bad news is we ran into Skipper on the way back."

"That's okay," she answered, still watching Julien. Kowalski tried not to growl out loud and pretended that he didn't care that she wasn't paying attention to him.

"Well, you see, silly penguin," Julien said to Skipper as he circled around him before coming to a halt in front of him," your daughter is a new subject to my kingdom."

Kowalski saw Skipper's eyes harden even more when the lemur said that, and before anyone could do anything, the penguin launched himself at the king. Alex was about to run over to where the fighting was, but Kowalski put his flipper out to stop her, shaking his head. "Don't," he murmured. "There's nothing you can do."

"But I got to save the king!" she protested, her eyes wide.

The tall penguin stared down at her, confused. "You really see Julien as a king, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course!" she answered shocked. "Don't you?"

Kowalski stopped himself from laughing out loud just in time. Instead he shook his head. "He might have been a king on his home island of Madagascar," he told her, trying not to hurt her feelings," but here he's not really a king. Just some derange animal who is unable to let go of the past."

Alex stared at him for a long moment, before turning back to where her father was attacking Julien. By this time, Private and Rico was trying to pull Skipper off him, while Maurice and Mort tried saving Julien from Skipper's punches. Then Kowalski saw his chance. Glancing around to make sure nobody was around, he grabbed onto Alex's flipper and hopped off the platform.

He heard her let out a protest as he dragged her along, but it wasn't until they were under the platform that he let her go. She turned on him and demanded," What's your problem?"

Kowalski suddenly felt embarrassed, but he had to do this. _I have to __show__ her how I feel!_

Without replying to her question, he kept walking toward her, while she backed up til she hit the concrete wall of the platform. She looked up at him, uncertainly in her eyes, but still he didn't say anything. He bent down a little, noticing their beaks almost touched. Then he moved forward, pressing his beak against hers.

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	9. The Missing Penguin

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

* * *

Alex could taste fish as Kowalski pressed his beak against hers. She wasn't sure what to do at first, so she just stood there, til finally her brain started working again and she was able to push him off her. She stared wide eyes at him, too shock to say anything. She had no idea that he liked her.

She felt embarrassment wash over her when he looked into her eyes with that same look that was beginning to become familiar to her, and then it came to her. Ever since he first laid eyes on her, that look's been in his eyes every time he stared at the female penguin. _Was it love at first sight? _she wondered.

Then she saw the look vanished to be replaced with fear. He backed away from her and looked down. "I'm s-sorry," he stammered. "I guess I couldn't help myself...I couldn't hold back anymore..."

Alex felt her heart break. She wasn't sure if she felt the same way toward Kowalski, but the kiss certainly stirred up feelings she didn't know she had nor ever felt before. Before she could say anything to the penguin though, he started backing up. She wanted to call after him, but for some reason she was froze were she stood and no sound came out of her beak.

She watched with a sad heart as the penguin jumped out of the habitat. _Maybe I do love him, _she thought, frowning. _I'm not sure. _She looked back up at the platform and sighed. _My loyalty to the king has to come first though. I don't care what Kowalski says. He's _my _king!_

Jumping back onto the platform, she saw that Skipper had stopped attacking Julien, but the lead penguin was still glaring at him. Her king was standing beside his throne, fixing his crown on his head, while Maurice and the little lemur, who Alex guessed was Mort, dusted him off.

She slid over to him and asked," Are you okay, my king?" She looked him over and was satisfied to see that other than ruffled fur he seemed unharmed.

Before Julien could replied, Skipper grabbed onto Alex's flipper and started dragging her away. "How can you call him that?" he demanded. "He's _not _a king!"

Alex sighed. "He is to me."

Private stepped forward. "But why do you want to be his subject?" asked the British penguin, glancing at his leader before turning back to Alex.

Alex looked at Julien, before she turned to her father, telling him," I made a promise to him, and I always keep my promises."

"What kind of promise?" the leader demanded.

She got away from Skipper and ran back to Julien, smiling at him as she stood beside him. She then turned to look at her father. "I promised to always to be his loyal subject."

Suddenly Skipper was pulling her away again. "I don't think so," he said, shaking his head. He pushed Alex to Private and Rico; they grabbed her and held her down so she couldn't escape while her father walked to Julien. "You brainwashed my daughter, Ringtail!"

The ring tail lemur just blinked in surprised. "I did nothing," he protested. "She was looking at me like a king so the only thing I could do was ask her to join my kingdom." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

Skipper obviously thought it was a big deal though. "You didn't have to do that!" he yelled. "Now we gonna take her home, and you are not to make her do anything for you again! Got it?" He grabbed the back of the lemur's neck and dragged him down so he could looked him in the eyes. Alex tried to get lose, but the other penguins had a firm grip on him.

Julien gulped, then nodded. Skipper pushed the lemur away, making him bump into Maurice and Mort. The leader turned back to his team, using his flippers to order them to leave the habitat. They nodded, but before following Skipper, Rico hacked something up and handed it to Julien, who looked at it in surprise. Alex had to look closer to see it was a small black square with buttons. She instantly knew what it was, but before she could tell the king, Mort started jumping up and down.

"It's my little music player!" the little lemur cheered.

"_Your_ little music player?" Julien questioned, looking down at Mort.

"It's the MP3 Player you wanted," Maurice told him.

"Oh." Julien closed his hands with the human devise in it, calling out a thanks when the penguins jumped out of the habitat.

When they were on the other side of the wall, the two penguins still holding onto Alex, they turned toward their own home. Alex soon gave up fighting, knowing it was of no use. Then when they got to the gates, Private let go of Alex and looked around. He turned confused eyes on Skipper, asking," Where's Kowalski?"

Before now Alex had forgot about the smart penguin and their kiss, but as soon as the young penguin asked that question, it all came rushing back to her. She glanced around, also wondering where he had went to. She didn't see any sign of him. Maybe he was in the HQ?

Skipper looked at Private, sighing, obviously still mad at Julien. "Go see if he's inside," the leader ordered Private, then added to Alex," You go with him. I'm going to have a talk with you later, but for now I don't want you to leave the HQ."

Alex opened her beak to argued, but the look Private gave her told that it wouldn't make a difference, so she just sighed and followed the penguin over the gates. They dropped through the hole, but there was no sign of the smart penguin anywhere. Private went back up to tell his leader that Kowalski wasn't in there, while Alex sighed and sat down on the steps.

_Some day, _she thought, beginning to reflect on everything that happened. She was still mad at her dad for choosing penguins that he just met over his own daughter, but now that talked they had seemed ages away when she thought about what's happened since then.

When she was on her way here to confront her dad, she never even thought about becoming a subject to a king that she just met, but she like the connection she felt with him, even if she didn't understand it. She sighed and looked down at her feet, remembering the kiss her and Kowalski had. Now she thinks she loves him.

_So much happened in one day..._she thought. _This isn't how I thought it'd be when I found my dad!_

The sound of someone dropping into the HQ distracted Alex from her thoughts, and she looked up to see Private waddling to her. "Skippah said he's gonna to go find–"He broke off suddenly as he looked closer at Alex and sat down beside her. "Are you okay, then?" he asked.

Alex sighed and turned away. "Just too much going on," she murmured. "You know, drama." She rolled her eyes; she never liked drama.

"I'm sorry," Private said, frowning. "I guess this wasn't what you expected when you found your father."

Alex nodded. "Is he always this way toward the king or is it just because of me?" she asked, glancing at the penguin beside her.

"He's never liked King Julien," explained Private. "He's always getting in our way, interrupting our missions, and keeps us up at night with parties." Then he suddenly smiled and hopped to his feet. "But it's really cool to have another penguin!" he added, and Alex knew he was only trying to distract her from everything that was going on. She didn't mind though; she needed the distraction. "And one around my age! We can hang out and get to know each other!" He smiled sweetly at Alex, who laughed and got up.

She followed the young private over to the couch and sat down beside him. "So I think Skippah and the others might be gone for a while," he said. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

Alex really didn't want to, but she could see that if she objected, she would hurt the penguin's feelings. She took a deep breath. "Well my real name is Alexandria," she began, trying not to show her discomfort of Private's interest in her," but everyone calls my Alex, because you know, it's shorter."

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up later today! :)**


	10. Love Birds

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

* * *

The moon shined down on the zoo, and clouds drifted across the sky from the light breeze. Kowalski looked at his home below him. He was sitting on the clock tower, watching the animals in their habitats. From up here, he could see his friends looking for him, but he didn't want them to find him. He just wanted to be alone for a while with his thoughts.

He was starting to wonder if it was much a wise idea to show his feelings toward Alex. His experience with Doris the dolphin should have showed him that he can't just do things without thinking, but ever since he saw Alex earlier today he couldn't get her out of his head, and he really wanted her to know how he felt.

Sighing, he took out his notepad and pencil. He wanted to weigh his options and find out what he should to now, but he couldn't lift his flipper. He just stared down at the blank piece of paper. Then his version started to get blurry, and he felt something wet roll down his cheek. He slowly brought his other flipper to his face and wrapped away the liquid. He stared down at the tear as it went down his flipper.

_Why am I crying? _he thought. _Why do I love Alex? I don't even know her!_

He wanted to get to know her, though. He wanted to know every single detail about her: Her favorite color, her favorite type of fish, her whole life, how she sees life, and he wanted her opinion on science. He then started to wondered if she even liked science. Kowalski couldn't think why anyone wouldn't like it. Even if she didn't, though, he would still love her. It doesn't matter what she likes or hates, nothing is going to make him stop thinking about her; nothing's going to make him _want _to stop thinking about her.

_Her voice, the way she looks, and when she smiles. Oh! When she smiles I can't help but smile, too! _His happy thoughts turned dark when something dawned on him.

"But the way she looked at me when I kissed her makes me thinks she doesn't like me," Kowalski said out loud to himself. Then he remembered Julien announcing his new subject and that Alex was always staring at him. "There's no way she could like him though..." He shook his head and wrapped away his tears.

He looked down at the piece of paper, that was now all wet. He frowned. His loneliness was messing with his mind. He couldn't think straight! He couldn't come up with any options that would help him get through this. Sighing deeply, he got to his feet. He put his notepad and pencil down as he looked over the edge of the tower, staring at the zoo below him.

_Maybe I should find Alex..._

He had things to tell her, and maybe if he did she'd see how much he loves her. He might even be able to talk some sense into her and make her not want to be Julien's subject anymore. He knew it was a long shot, but it was something he had to do.

Trying to think of things to tell Alex, the tall penguin began to get down off the clock tower. During the way down, he remembered that he left his notepad up there. He started climbing back up, but suddenly he heard someone calling to him. He jumped down and was surprised when he came face to face with his leader.

"Where have you been, solider?" Skipper demanded, and Kowalski was shocked to see so much anger in his eyes. Is that anger all toward Alex and the lemur king?

Suddenly Rico appeared and stood beside Skipper, looking Kowalski up and down, making the tall penguin uncomfortable.

Sighing, Kowalski hung his head. "I'm sorry, Skipper," he murmured. "I just needed some time alone. I needed to think about somethings." He hoped they didn't ask about what, but that hope shatter into millions of pieces when the leader ask that exact question. Kowalski sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Should he tell them?

Before he could answer, Skipper rolled his eyes. "You can explain yourself later, solider," he said, and Kowalski tried not to show his relief. "Right now we need to get back to HQ so I can have a talk with Alex." They started walking back to their habitat, and Kowalski could see that Skipper was more annoyed than angry now. "I don't understand that lemur sometimes," he muttered; Kowalski wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or one of them, but he decided to not reply to the leader and continue to walk on.

* * *

As soon as they got in their HQ, Skipper stormed over to Alex, who was sitting on the couch with Private. She seemed to be right in the middle of a conversation with the young penguin, but when she saw her father she broke off and jumped to her feet, facing him with confidence. Kowalski admire her in every way, but he tried to hide it as he waddled over to the two penguins.

"What do you think you were doing, joining his bunch of idiotic followers?" Skipper demanded, looking down at his daughter.

"I don't think he's that bad!" Alex protested.

Kowalski didn't want them to fight anymore, so he pushed between them. "Skipper?" he asked, turning to his leader. "Can we talk?"

The leader glared at him, before nodding and letting the other penguin led him away, but Kowalski noticed that Skipper flashed another glare over his shoulder at his daughter.

"Listen, Skipper," the tall penguin said once they were on the other side of the lair," I'm not happy about Alex wanting to be Julien's subject either, but she is, for some reason. You two been separated for years and now is you chance to catch up on everything, not fight." He sighed and kicked his foot on the ground, knowing that what he was saying was just going over his leader's head. He was always stubborn.

He was surprised to see Skipper nodding his head. "You're right, Kowalski," he said. "I shouldn't be getting mad at Alex. She's new around here, not quite used to everything. Once she sees how annoying that lemur is she'd want nothing to do with him."

Kowalski was happy that he was able to get his leader to calm down, and when they went back over to the others, Skipper apologized to his daughter for his behave. Alex just stared at him, shocked.

"Really?" she asked. "Just like that?" She turned surprised eyes on Kowalski, who smiled and shrugged, silently telling her to go with it. She laughed and hugged her dad, saying," I'm sorry if I upset you."

Skipper waved her apology away. "It's okay," he said, hugging her back. Then he pulled away and turned to the rest of his team. "Come on men. It's time for bed." He waddled to the bunks with Private and Rico following him. Kowalski was about to follow, but he felt something pull him back, and he turned in surprised to see Alex blinking warm eyes at him.

"Thank you," she whispered, leaning forward and kissing his cheek that sent shivers up his spine. "I know it seems like I hate Skipper," she continued, pulling away," but he is still my dad."

At first, Kowalski was unable to speak, wanting to savor the feel of her beak against his cheek for as long as he could. Then he cleared his throat and pointed to the couch. "Y-you could sleep on that for the time being," he stammered, silently cussing himself for sounding so stupid.

Alex laughed and let go of his flipper as she laid down on the couch. "Good-night, Kowalski," she murmured, closing her eyes.

Kowalski grabbed a blanket and covered her, looking down at the penguin and feeling a smile form on his beak. "Good-night, Alex," he said as he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He wasn't sure at first, but he was glad when she didn't push him off. He waddled over to his own bed and climbed in it, staring at the couch where he could see Alex sleeping. Then he fell asleep, dreaming about the beautiful penguin.

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	11. Fred

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

* * *

Alex watched as her father and his team went up the ladder. Even after they disappeared, she still stared in that direction, thinking about everything that happened yesterday. She was glad that she was able to be alone for a few hours with her thoughts, while Skipper and the others entertained the humans.

She wasn't sure if her and Kowalski was together yet though. She had kissed him on the cheek last night, and he gave her a good-night kiss on the forehead before he went to sleep, but they didn't have time to talk about that before Skipper rounded up his team for the morning visitors. She was actually glad about that. She wanted to think about her feelings toward the tall penguin before she told him anything.

She looked around the lair, trying to think of something to do while everyone was out. She waddled over to the T.V. and turned it on. She growled under her breath when unicorns appeared on the screen. She remembered this show. A couple of animals in her old zoo told her about it, and she instantly hated it. What was it called?

_Oh yeah...the Lunacorns._

Quickly she turned the T.V. off, suddenly not wanting to watch it after all. She turned away from the T.V. and walked to the fish trophy. Kowalski had explained to her that it had a tunnel that led to the outside, and sure enough, when she push the trophy off the wall she was greeted with a dark hole.

She took a deep breath and jumped into the hole, disappearing into the darkness. She couldn't see anything for awhile, and she was beginning to freak out. Finally she felt her flipper touch against something and she push it aside. Once she made sure no humans were around, she jumped out of the hole and landed on the ground.

Looking around, she noticed that she was just outside the penguin habitat. She quickly hid behind a garbage can and when she was sure nobody was looking at her, she slid on her belly to the next can. She kept this up til she saw the entrance to the zoo; she was about to dash out, but she stopped just before a group of humans walked by. Sighing with relief, she slid to the arch, passing her back against the wall.

All this sneaking around remember her of her first trip to the zoo, but she didn't feel the anger or confusion anymore. For the first time in her life, she was actually happy.

Once she left the entrance to the zoo behind, she slid to the nearest tree and hopped into it. She looked around, making sure no human saw her. She sighed with relief and laid back down. Now she could think about things in peace. Her mind instantly shot back to Kowalski and their first kiss, but before she could think too much into it, something hit her in the head.

She looked down at the ground where the object fell and was confused to see an acorn laying beside the tree. She looked up and widen her eyes when she saw another acorn heading her way. She jumped out of the way, the acorn just missing her. She looked back up and saw a tail flicking in the bushes. She was about to called up to the animal, but just then it threw yet another acorn her way.

Alex had to jump backwards to avoid it, but the tree branch vanish beneath her feet and the next thing she knew she was laying on face beside the tree trunk. Groaning, she sat up, rubbing her head where it hurt. Then she shook it to stop the buzzing sound. She shakily got to her feet as he looked up in the tree, watching the tail.

"Hey!" she called up at the animal.

The tail vanished in the leaves and a head popped out. It was a squirrel. He stared down at the female penguin with clueless eyes.

"Watch where you are throwing things!" Alex told him, pointing to the acorns on the ground.

The squirrel looked at where she was pointing, and then he looked back at her. "Did I hit you?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Oh." He dropped out of the tree and landed in front of her. "I'm sorry." He then just stared at her, slowly blinking his eyes.

Alex took a step away from him, uncomfortable under his stare. "It's okay, I guess," she muttered as she sat down beside the tree. She glanced at the squirrel when he sat beside her. _Did he want something? Why didn't he go back to his what he was doing? _She didn't ask him though. She just didn't feel like talking. She had to figure out what she was going to tell Kowalski later today when she saw him.

She knew she loved him, but she had to find the right words to say. The squirrel staring at her wasn't making it easy for her to think though. She turned to him and snapped," What?"

He didn't react to her harsh tone though. He just blinked and said," Are you new around here? I don't think I've seen you before."

Alex sighed. She didn't want to have a conversation with him. "My name is Alex," she replied. "You probably know my dad, Skipper."

The squirrel seem to think for a minute, then shrugged. He didn't say anything though, and he continued to stare at the female penguin. Alex sighed again and tried to forgot about him as she thought about what she would say to Kowalski, but then the squirrel suddenly announced," My name is Fred."

The penguin turned to the squirrel and got to her feet. "I'm trying to think about something," she told him. _And you are keep interrupting me! _she added in her head.

The squirrel blinked up at her, but didn't say anything.

Alex saw her chance of leaving and maybe finally having some alone time, but when she tried to walk away, Fred got up and stood in front of her. She stared at him, expecting him to say something, but he just continued to stared at her. She sighed; this squirrel was starting to get on her nerves.

"What?" she asked, taking a step back from him.

"Whatcha thinking about?" the squirrel questioned.

Alex was surprised he asked her that, and she eyed him suspiciously. She really didn't want to tell him, but she knew if she didn't, he'll probably keep asking. Sighing, she sat down again and told him," I know this guy who likes me, and I'm trying to decide what to tell him."

The squirrel sat down beside her, blinking slowly at her. "Do you like him back?" he asked.

Alex glanced at him and nodded. She didn't want to talk about Kowalski with this squirrel, but for some reason she was feeling better having someone to tell about all this to. She haven't had time to tell her father that the tall penguin liked her, and even though she talked to Private she didn't feel comfortable sharing something that big with him, while she thought Rico just wouldn't understand.

_Maybe my king would listen though? _she thought, but she knew Skipper wouldn't let her go near Julien for a while after what happened yesterday.

"You should tell him how you feel," Fred decided.

"It's not that easy," Alex murmured, looking away from him. She was never good with telling someone how she felt.

He was silent for a moment, and she looked at him again to see him blinking at her with clueless eyes. "Why not?" he asked. "Just go up to him and tell him that you like him. It's not that hard."

Now it was Alex's turn to look stupid. The way he said it did sound easy, but she knew it was a lot harder than it sounded. _But I still have to try! _she decided, getting up. She dropped to her stomach and started sliding toward the zoo, calling a bye to Fred as she left.

* * *

**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	12. New Boyfriend

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

* * *

Once the gates came into view, Alex skid to a halt and jumped into a bush. She watched as several humans walked by, wondering if she should wait til the zoo closed and then sneak back to the HQ. She knew her father and the others would be entertaining the humans until then, so she laid down in the bush and got comfortable.

She wondered if telling Kowalski was going to be as easy as Fred says it is. She wasn't sure how long went by til finally she heard the giant bell on the tower go off and she heard a loud crowd coming her way. She ducked farther into the bush, hoping nobody will see her. She watched as many humans walked by.

Finally the last of them vanished in the distance, and she jumped out of the bush, glad that nobody saw her. Now she could move throughout the zoo without anyone seeing her, but she didn't go far until she heard someone calling her. She looked around and saw her father sliding to her. He jumped to his feet when he got to her.

"Where have you been?" he demanded as the other three penguins appeared behind him; Alex noticed that Kowalski had a worried look on his face.

Alex turned to her dad in surprised. "I was bored in the HQ by myself," she explained," so I went to the park. I met one of the park animals. His name is Fred."

The tall penguin waddled to her. "Ah, Fred," he murmured. "How is he?"

"Good," she replied, not wanting to tell him what they talked about just yet. She'll try to get him alone and tell him about her feelings later. "I asked him if he knew you, but he didn't seem to."

Kowalski nodded as he folded his flippers behind his back. "Yeah, he can be a little clueless."

"I can tell," Alex agreed.

Skipper stepped in between the two penguins and said," We don't have time for small talk. Come on let's go back to the HQ."

Kowalski dipped his head. "Yes, sir."

Alex eyed her father but she agreed anyways, knowing she could maybe get some alone time with Kowalski once they were back at the penguins habitat. She started to follow the four penguins back to their home, all of them silent, when suddenly a brown-and-white creature jumped in front of them.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted the penguins, and then froze when she spotted Alex. "Who is she?"

Skipper took a step toward the otter. "Marlene, this Alex, my daughter."

The otter's eyes widen and her mouth dropped open. "Your _what?" _she exclaimed as she turned to the female penguin; Alex tried to hide behind Kowalski, who flashed her a friendly smile but said nothing.

"I'll explain later," Skipper promised. "We were just heading back to our HQ."

Marlene held the lead penguin's gaze for a long before, before nodding. "Okay," she said slowly. "But I do expect the whole story later." And with that, she walked off, heading to her own habitat Alex guessed.

Alex watched her leave, before following the others toward their own habitat. Once in the lair, she looked around, and watched as Private and Rico went over to the table. They started to play a card game, and she watched for a few minutes, wondering what kind of game it was. She blinked in confusion when they licked the cards and stick them to their forehead, before Private started dealing them both in.

She soon got distracted by the game when she spotted Kowalski and Skipper talking. As she watched, Skipper nodded and walked over to the table, joining in on the card game as Kowalski disappeared through a door. She slowly walked over there and looked through the entrance, seeing the smart penguin bending over a table that had a few weird looking machines on it.

She swallowed her nervousness and waddled over to him, glancing around at everything. When she got to him, she asked," Hey, can we talk?"

The tall penguin looked up in surprised, but Alex was glad to see his eyes was warm as he stared down at her. "Of course." He waddled to the door and closed it, before going back to her. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Us." Alex stared down at her feet, shifting them uncomfortably. She thought maybe she would be able to do this, but now that she actually brought it up, she wasn't sure if she could. She couldn't back down now; she glanced up and saw his eyes sparkling as he stared at her.

"What about us?" he asked.

Alex cleared her throat. "I know you like me," she began, remembering the kiss they had in the lemur habitat. She looked up at the tall penguin and saw him hanging on every word she said. "And I think I–"She cleared her throat again. "No, I _know _I like you a lot. But what does that make us?"

Kowalski grabbed her flipper and looked her in the eyes. "Well I'd really like to be your boyfriend if you'll let me," he whisper as he bent down.

Alex stared at him as he pressed his beak against hers, and then she closed her eyes, this time getting into the kiss. When they separated, Alex smiled up at the tall penguin and laid her head on his chest as she whispered," I'd like that."

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	13. Kowalski's Inventions

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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Alex didn't want to pull away from him, and she was sad when Kowalski took a step back. She looked up to see him smiling down at her. He kissed her once more on the beak before walking to the door and opening it. She followed him, wishing that that moment could have last forever. Sighing, she followed him to the main room.

Skipper and the other two were still playing cards, but they looked up when their friends appeared. They seemed like they knew something was up, and the way Skipper was eying his daughter made her uncomfortable; but she scoot closer to Kowalski and stood her guard in case Skipper had something to say about her dating one of his teammate.

The lead penguin put down the cards and got to his feet. He waddled over to the two penguins as Alex grabbed Kowalski's flipper, not afraid of her dad. She was surprised to see him nodding his with approval.

"So you two finally got together, did you?" he asked, laughter in his eyes.

Alex stared at her father in surprised. "How did you know we liked each other?"

"Sad Eyes saw you two kissing," Skipper explained, a playful look on his face. "I just wanted to see how long it'll take before you two got together."

Alex opened her beak to reply, but Kowalski put his flipper on her shoulder, and he announced to his leader," We are now officially a couple."

"That's great!" Private came waddling over with a huge smile on his face, and Alex saw Rico right behind him. "Congratulations you two!"

Rico grunted an agreement.

Alex had wanted to ask her father who "Sad Eyes" was and how he saw them kissing, but she decided that that can wait to later. She watched as Private turned to his leader.

"Can we celebrate with snow cones, Skippah?" the young penguin asked, his eyes shining.

Skipper turned to him with a smile and laughed. "Sure, young private." He started waddling to the ladder, but Alex didn't follow him. She wanted to spend some time along with Kowalski. Her father must have noticed that she wasn't following, because he stopped and turned. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"Actually can I stay here?" she asked. Then she turned to Kowalski. "I kinda want to spend some alone time with you," she told him, and he smiled at her.

Skipper nodded in understanding, calling Private and Rico to him. The three penguins disappeared up the ladder, all of them saying a quick goodbye as they went. Then Alex was alone with her first boyfriend. She turned to him and saw that he was smiling down at her.

Before she could say anything, he grabbed onto her flipper and said," Come on. I want to show you something."

He led her back to the door and opened it. She followed him into his lab, stopping beside him as he came to a halt next to the table. He lifted his flippers and gestured to all the machines, blueprints, and objects gathering around.

"This is where I make all my inventions," he announced, looking down at Alex and smiling at her.

She looked around in wonder as she began to explore his lab. She pasted a strange looking ray-gun. Alex stopped beside it and picked it up, looking at it more closely. The end of it was made of a half bowling pen, while the other part of it kind of looked like a satellite, and there was a part of a sticking out that looked like a trigger from a toy gun.

_ Weird..._

She moved her flipper to the trigger, making sure the end that looked like a satellite wasn't pointing at her. She was about to pull the trigger when suddenly a flipper touched her shoulder. She turned around, eyes wide. Her heart started pounding hard, but she relaxed a moment later when she realize that it was only Kowalski. She then realize that she was pointing the ray-gun at him. She quickly lower it and smiled embarrassingly.

"That's my shrink ray," he explained as he took the gun from Alex.

Her smiled turned to a frown when her flipper touch Kowalski's. She felt embarrassment wash over her as they touch, and she quickly pulled away, not meeting his eyes. She wasn't used to liking anyone yet.

Her attention went to a devise that was on the table. She ran to it and looked at it, wondering what it did. It actually looked like a toy: It was pink, and there was a heart sticker on it, with lots of buttons, and a skinny, long hole. It also had a lever and a big red button.

_Even weird..._

"Now that right there, I call it the Luv-u-later 3000," Kowalski explained as he walked over to Alex, who had turned to look at him.

"3000?" Alex echoed. "Why the 3000?"

Kowalski shrugged. "Not sure. I thought it was kind of catchy."

"I guess it is." Alex turned back to the machine. "What does it do?"

"It's suppose to find someone's perfect match."

Alex widened her eyes. "Really?" A thought suddenly popped in her mind, but she didn't want to say it out loud, so she kept her beak shut.

She was surprised when the smart penguin echoed what she was thinking. "You want to try it? I don't think it works, but we could give it a try."

"Sure," Alex replied.

Instead of say anything else, though, Kowalski picked up the machine and walked out the door. A little confused, Alex followed him. When she got back to the main room of the lair, she saw the smart penguin hooking wires into the T.V.

After he was done, he turned back to Alex and pulled a q-tip out. "I'll have to get a saliva sample," he said.

Alex blinked but stick out her tongue. She closed her eyes briefly, but opened them when she felt the q-tip touch her tongue. When he was done, Alex put her tongue back in her beak and watched Kowalski walk to the devise. He put the q-tip in the hole and the red button started flashing. A picture of the zoo appeared on the T.V. screen.

The female penguin looked at the screen, confused. _Is it working?_

Suddenly a red, pounding heart cane onto the screen, but it wasn't where the penguin habitat was. She looked closer, but before she could be sure where it was exactly, Kowalski pushed a button, making the screen fad to black.

Alex turned on him sharply. "Why did you do that?" she demanded.

"Oh." He sounded surprised as if he didn't know what he just did. "I told you this thing was broken. It didn't work last time, and it's not working now. Sorry." He shrugged, and then started pushing Alex back to his lab. "There's something else I want to show you anyways."

Once they were back in the lab, Kowalski went to the other side of the room, coming back a few heartbeats later, with his flippers behind his back. Alex looked at him, wondering what he was hiding.

Then the smart penguin revealed what he was holding. Alex looked down at it. It was a square creature made of...jelly?

"I named this creature Jiggles," Kowalski explained as he flicked the blob with one of his flippers. The creature started wriggling as if it was laughing.

Alex back up a little when she saw it move.

"It's alright." Her boyfriend looked at her gently and held out the flipper that had the jelly creature in it.

Very slowly, Alex lifted her flipper until it almost touched Kowalski's. The jelly thing started moving forward, sliding off of it's creator and onto Alex's flipper. Alex looked at it closely.

_Very interesting..._

She almost forgot what she thought she saw on the T.V. screen when she was trying to find her prefect match. She watched as Jiggles moved around on her flipper. She kept moving her flipper over and over when the creature was about to fall off.

"I had accidentally created him when I was on the edge of a break though," Kowalski explained. "It had been a while since I had created something useful, so I was beginning to freak out a little, until I had made this wonderful discovery..."

His voice faded to the back of Alex's mind as she watched Jiggles move around her flipper. She soon forgot to pretend like she was listening to her boyfriend go on and on about how he had made this jelly thing and how it had turned evil.

Something gently touched her on the shoulder, and she looked up. Kowalski was looking down at her.

"Do you like science?" he asked unexpectedly.

Alex blinked a few times, and looked back down at Jiggles. "Honestly, no, not really," she confessed. "I've taught myself how to read, but I've never had an interest in the science field. Sorry."

Kowalski shrugged. "That's alright. I–"

He was interrupted by a call from the other room. "Hello? Penguins!"

It was King Julien. What was he doing here? Obviously Kowalski was thinking the same thing, because the tall penguin rolled his eyes and murmured," He often barges in our HQ uninvited."

He sighed when the lemur called to them again. but before he left his lab, he took Jiggles from Alex and told her quietly," Please keep this top secret. Nobody but you and I should know about this." He pointed to Jiggles.

Alex nodded.

As quick as he could, the smart penguin hid the jelly-thing and started to head toward the door that led back to the main room. He grabbed Alex's flipper when he pasted her, and started pulling her out of his lab. Alex followed without compliant.

King Julien was standing in the middle of the lair, glancing around. Maurice and Mort stood beside him. Maurice looked uncomfortable being here, while Mort just stared at the king's feet with excitement in his eyes. As soon as Julien saw Alex, his eyes lit up and he ran to her.

"We ran having a party," he announced," and I'm gonna be needing all my subjects." There was something in his voice that made her feel uneasy, but she didn't back down. She stared up back him and dipped her head.

"Yes, my king," she murmured, but before she could follow him, Kowalski pulled her back.

He bent down and whispered to her," I don't think Skipper will like that."

She stared wide eyed at him. "But he's my king. I have to listen to him." She tried to follow the ring tail lemur again, but there was something in Kowalski's eyes that made her stop in her tracks. What was wrong with him? Why did he look so distress?

"What is taking so long?" Alex looked past her boyfriend at Julien and saw that the king was standing with his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face.

She turned back to Kowalski and murmured," I'm sorry, honey, but I have to go with my king." She kissed him on the forehead before running to Julien's side, smiling up at him. "I promise I won't be out long!" she called over her shoulder as she followed the lemurs out of the lair. She glanced over her shoulder at her boyfriend before disappearing through the hole, telling herself that she was imaging the anxiously on his face.

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	14. Ruining A Party

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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When Alex disappeared through the hole, Kowalski felt like dying. How could she leave him for that selfish, derange lemur? Anger pulsed through him, but he force it down when he reminded himself that she was only going to a party. He just wished she didn't seem so faithful to him; now it seem like she was more loyal to the king than she was to her own boyfriend!

He sighed and turned back to the T.V., remembering what it showed when they were trying to find Alex's perfect match. His heart had broken, and then watching her going off with that lemur was like a knife going through him.

_Perhaps I should just tell her? _he thought as he waddled to the T.V.

The red button was still flashing, and when he pushed a button the zoo appeared on the screen again. He felt like crying when he looked at the pounding heart. Why did it have to be over there? He loved her! The heart should be where the penguin habitat was!

Suddenly the sadness was swept away as anger washed over him once more. He shut off the machine and unplugged the wires, declaring," This stupid machine does not work! There's no way that insane lemur is her perfect match!"

He picked up his invention and stormed back to his lab, throwing it on the table. He didn't care about his Luv-u-later 3000 anymore, and he made a mental not that he'll destroy it later. He had made this thing, hoping science could help with find a perfect match, but all it's done is hurt him. He's sick of it.

Turning his back on his invention, he went back to the main room. He was about to go to the ladder so he could go topside and hopefully make it to the lemur habitat before the party started so he could tell Alex the truth; he regretted not telling her in the first place.

Suddenly the fishbowl was pushed aside, and Skipper and the other two dropped into the lair. Kowalski didn't see any snow cones and thought maybe they must have eat them on their way back. He swallowed and shifted his feet nervously when his leader looked around the lair before turning back to the tall penguin.

"Where's Alex?" he asked.

Kowalski rubbed the back of his neck, not looking forward to telling him that the lemurs took her to their habitat. "Julien came by and invited her to his party," he told him, leaving out the part where the lemur called Alex his subject on purpose.

Instantly anger flashed in Skipper's eyes. "Ringtail," he muttered, and then added louder," "Move out, men!"

Private and Rico vanished through the hole. Skipper looked at Kowalski, who was staring at his feet.

"Are you okay?" Skipper asked, and Kowalski looked up at the sound of his leader's voice.

Kowalski nodded, not really wanting to tell him about Alex's perfect match. She was the only one that he wanted to tell that to if he could help it. "I just don't like that Alex made a promise to Julien about being his subject," he told him instead; he didn't lie to him, just told him something else that was bothering him.

Skipper nodded. "But don't worry," he assured him. "I'm going bring it to an end now."

"What are you going to do?" Kowalski was almost afraid to know the answer.

The leader shook his head. "You'll find out. Just come on." And with that, the leader did a back flip and kicked against the wall, launching himself through the hole.

Kowalski watched him leave, then followed him more slowly, just climbing the ladder. When he was on the island, he spotted his friends on the other side of the gates and headed toward the lemur habitat. He quickly joined them, but he avoid Private's eyes when the young penguin glanced at him. He hoped he wouldn't say anything, and he was relieved when Private looked back in front of him without saying a word.

When they were in front of the lemur habitat, Skipper instantly jumped over the wall, his team following him. Kowalski was greeted by loud music as soon as they got on the other side, and he glanced around, seeing the three lemurs and Alex on the platform. He swallowed his anger as he watched them dance. He tried not to feel jealous when he noticed how close Alex and Julien was dancing.

Without thinking, he jumped onto the platform and slammed into the ring tail lemur, pinning him down. He tried not to notice the surprised looks on the faces of the animals around him as he put his beak close to Julien's muzzle. The lemur tried to get free, but Kowalski held onto him tight as a growl lifted in his throat.

Then someone was pulling him off the king, and he glanced back to see his teammates looking at him with wide eyes.

"Explain yourself, solider," Skipper demanded as he walked in front of Kowalski.

At first Kowalski didn't say anything; he watched as Alex helped the king to his feet. Then he sighed and murmured," I'm sorry, Skipper." He stared down at his feet. He didn't want to explain himself, but he knew he had to. He took a deep breath and looked up at Alex, but when he started speaking, he was talking to all the animals. "Earlier Alex and I did an experiment with the Luv-u-later 3000."

"Really?" Skipper asked, rolling his eyes. "That thing again? I thought you gave it up?"

Kowalski shrugged. "I just wanted to test it," he murmured, and then he sighed and added a little louder," But it said that _he _was her perfect match." He pointed to King Julien.

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up tomorrow! :)**


	15. Perfect Match

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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When he heard what the smart penguin said, Julien burst out laughing. He was slightly aware of everyone staring at him, but he didn't care. He thought what Kowalski said was the funniest thing in the world. A penguin being his perfect match? _I'm the king, _he laughed in his head as he fell onto the concrete. _I can have anyone. Why would I want a _penguin?

He tried to get control of his laughter as he looked up at everyone. He saw the leader of the penguins glaring down at him, while the smartest of them grumbled to himself as he crossed his flippers. The smallest of the member had an uneasy look on his face as he took a step away from the laughing lemur, while the psychopath of the group just rolled his eyes and stood his ground as if waiting for orders to do something.

The king's watery eyes switched over to his subjects, and he saw that Maurice was shaking his head while Mort just looked confused. Julien took a deep breath when his lungs started to hard from the lack of oxygen that was getting to them. He sat up and wrapped away the tears that was falling from his eyes from his laughter.

Then he saw her: Alex was staring at him with deep sadness in her eyes. Her beak was open a little as she shifted her feet, clearly uncomfortable with how the king was reacting to Kowalski's news. Instantly Julien regretted the way he acted, but he didn't understand why. He shut his mouth, and got to his feet, suddenly aware of all the eyes watching him and not wanting to be the center of attention for once.

He cleared his throat and walked over to the tall penguin, looking him in the eyes. "How can I be her perfect match?" he demanded. "I don't even like her!" He pushed the nagging feeling that was arguing with him away. _Of course I don't like a penguin!_

Kowalski's eyes flashed with anger to Julien's surprised, and the lemur stepped back from him. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't think my Luv-u-later works, so we can just forget about it, okay?" He stormed over to Alex, but Julien saw that all his anger faded as he faced the female penguin. "I just thought that you should know the truth."

But Alex turned on her boyfriend. "That's why you turned the machine off before I could get a good look!" she yelled, glaring at him.

He sighed and tried to grab her flipper, but she pulled away from him. "When I first made it, I thought that science could help someone find their perfect match," he explained, looking down and shifting his feet," but when I thought that I might lose you because of it, I decided that some machines can't choose who someone wants to spend the rest of their lives with." He glanced up at Alex.

Alex stared at him for a long moment. "Why did you have to hide it from me?" she whispered.

Kowalski shook his head. "I panicked. I didn't know what else to do. I don't want to lose you." He reached for her flippers again and this time she let him grab them. "I've never felt this way about anyone."

"What about Doris the dolphin?" Private spoke up, and Julien remember hearing many tales about the mammal that had stole the tall penguin's heart.

Kowalski glared the young penguin, and Private ducked behind Rico as if he thought the bigger bird would protect him, but Rico looked bored with the screen in front of him.

"Who's Doris?" Alex asked, taking a step away from Kowalski.

"Um nobody," Kowalski replied, turning back to the female penguin. "I used to have a small crush on her, but–"

"More like a major, obsess crush," Skipper interrupted. "But she never liked him back." He folded him flippers over his chest and smirked at the tall penguin.

"Yes, thank you, Skipper," Kowalski muttered. "I'm over her though," he added to Alex. "And what I feel for you is stronger than what I ever felt for Doris, and it's different than just a crush; it's love."

"But didn't you write Doris a poem once?" Private asked, and Rico grunted an agreement as if he was suddenly interested in what was going on again since everyone seemed to be hating on Kowalski at the moment.

Kowalski glared at his friends, and they all shut their beaks. Then he turned back to Alex and told her," Trust me, I'm over Doris and all I want is you. I believe that we are each other's perfect match if you will still have me."

Alex stared at him for a moment longer, and then she glanced at Julien, who had took a few steps away from the penguins and were now standing beside his subjects. He froze when she looked at him. He couldn't read her expression, which frustrated him.

Finally she turned back to Kowalski and nodded. "Okay," she said. "I still like you." She playfully tapped his beak and kissed his forehead. Julien rolled his eyes at the screen, annoyed at the penguins for interrupting his party, but more annoyed that his subject was dating one of Skipper's teammates. Could he order her not to date him?

As he watch them hug on each other though he couldn't bring himself to say the words to command her not to see him anymore for some reason. He sighed and thought maybe he was getting sick.

Suddenly not wanting to party anymore, he walked over to the penguins and started pushing them out of his habitat, saying," It was fun having you visiting, but you must go." He eyed his new subject, not able to get it out of his mind that she could be his perfect match, but he was determined to never bring it up again. "I'll see you later, subject," he told her as he continued to pushed them.

Skipper pushed him away and glared at him. "Stop calling her that, Ringtail!" he snapped, sounding tired of the whole thing, but before the lemur could of anything, the leader went on to his team," Come on, men, lets get back to our HQ." After shooting one last glare at Julien, the lead penguin led his team and Alex out of the lemur habitat.

Sighing, Julien watched them go. He didn't realize Maurice was beside him until the aye-aye said," Who would have thought your perfect match was a penguin?"

When he said that Julien started laughing again. Instead of replying to his adviser, the king jumped off the platform and went to the bouncy house, still laughing his head off at the thought of a penguin being his perfect match.

_As if!_

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**Please review! No flames please!**

**I'll have another chapter up later today! :)**


	16. Sun Set

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters! I only own Alex and her mother Daisy (who is only mentioned a few times in this story; she does not make an appearance).**

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When Alex dropped through the hole and landed in front of the bunks, she stumbled, and fell on her hands and knees. She was so distracted. First, Kowalski tells her that King Julien was her perfect match. Then her king starts laughing his head off as if he thought it was some kind of joke; he obviously didn't like her, and of course she didn't like him since she was dating Kowalski. The only reason she agreed to go to his party was because of the promise she made to him to always be his loyal subject.

And now she found out Kowalski used to have a huge, obsess crush on some dolphin called Doris. Even though he said he was over her, Alex still felt uncomfortable just the thought of him liking someone else so much. She knew someone who was obsessed over her, and his feelings never went away. How can Kowalski like someone and then suddenly like someone else? She just didn't like it one bit.

Kowalski helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking her over.

Alex gave him a curt nod. "Yes," she murmured, not meeting his eyes.

She heard the tall penguin sigh and shift his feet. "I'm really sorry for keeping the truth for you," he whispered.

Alex opened her beak to reply, but before she could say anything, Skipper turned to the rest of the team and told them," Come on, let's give these two some alone time." Private and Rico nodded before going up the ladder again. Skipper nodded to the couple before following them out the lair.

Suddenly not sure what to say, Alex went farther into the lair and stopped when she got to the table. She sat down and laid her head down, sighing.

"I'll understand if you don't want to date me anymore," Kowalski murmured as he walked up.

Alex looked up in surprised. "Oh no, it's not that," she said quickly. "Of course I want to keep dating."

Kowalski blinked. "You do?" he asked hopefully. "What's wrong then?" He sat down beside her and wrapped his flipper around his girlfriend.

"I guess I'm just a little sad about the way my king reacted when you told him that he could be my perfect match," she murmured, and then she sighed.

The tall penguin frowned. "Don't take anything Julien does or says to heart. He doesn't care if he hurts others. But," he added a little hesitantly," you aren't gonna jump on the perfect match thing?"

Alex shook her head. "Nah," she replied, smiling at Kowalski. "I made a promise to the king to always be his loyal subject, but that's all." She grabbed his flippers and stared into his eyes. "I love you, Kowalski and only you." She kissed him on the beak.

When they pulled away, Kowalski got to his feet and turned to her," Why did you make that promise exactly?"

"He had asked me to be his subject," she asked as she got up as well. "I couldn't just say no to the king, so I promised to him to be his subject."

Kowalski asked," Are you happy being his subject?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, it seems fun and I like making my king happy." She could see uncertainly in his eyes so she added," You can trust me, and I'm sure Julien doesn't want anything to do with me besides me being his subject."

The tall penguin suddenly looked like he regretted doubting his girlfriend. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "Of course I trust you, sweetie." He kissed her on her forehead. "Come on, let's go topside and see what the others are doing."

Alex nodded again and followed her boyfriend to the ladder. Once on the island, she saw that the sun was beginning to set. She glanced around and saw that Skipper was laying in a chair while Private swam in the water and Rico just stared off into space. They all turned as Alex and Kowalski appeared.

Skipper sat up and looked at the two questioningly. Alex didn't feel like talking to her father though. She walked over to the edge of the island and sat down, putting her feet in the water. She jumped when she realized that Private had appeared beside her, going in circles in the water. She watched the youngest member of the team for a few moments until she realize Kowalski was sitting beside her.

He didn't say anything; he just wrapped his flipper around her and watched the sun set. Alex smiled and leaned into him, her eyes watching the sky turn red and yellow. She sighed happily as she sat next to the penguin she came to love in the last couple of days.

She watched as Private jumped out of the water and waddled to them, smiling at them. Then Skipper and Rico joined them as well. The three penguins sat down beside the couple. Alex felt her heart swell with happiness as she looked at the others around her, before turning back to the sun set.

_I think I'm really going __to __like it here._

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**Please review! No flames please!  
**

**The End!**

**I'll upload the first chapter to the sequel tomorrow! :)**


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